The Chinese Basketball Association has secured a three-year sponsorship agreement with the car manufacturer FAW-Volkswagen Automobile. The agreement covers the CBA League, the CBA All-Star Game and the men’s national team -- Team China Basketball -- through the '16-17 season. Further activation rights, such as promotions during game breaks as well as special events with players, are included alongside merchandising opportunities and a hospitality contingent. In addition, a composite CBA logo, which integrates FAW-Volkswagen’s corporate identity, is being launched and can be used across all of the brand’s communication activities. In '14, the final six games of the CBA Professional League alone reached a cumulative TV audience of 162 million on CCTV and other regional TV networks in China (Infront). ECNS' Wang Fan reported despite the national basketball team's recent lackluster performance, the sport "remains the most commercially appealing in the market." Following the men's national squad's fifth-place finish at the Asian Championships in '13, Chinese hoops fans "might have lowered their expectations," but sponsors "still have faith in the CBA league's commercial prosperity." FAW-Volkswagen Commercial Department Vice-GM Hu Hanjie hailed CBA "as an ideal platform to demonstrate the brand's vibrant and dramatic image" (ECNS, 9/16).